The contest between Sen. Hillary Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama for the Democratic Presidential nomination illustrates for this observer what distinguishes the American Presidency from other high leadership positions around the world.
Sen. Clinton certainly has a formidable grasp of the wide range of national policy issues - very possibly more formidable than that of Sen. Obama. The New York Senator is also clearly a seasoned and strong presence on the political scene. She would clearly hold her own - and then some - with friends and adversaries alike. Sen. Clinton clearly has many qualifications for high national office; why then does this observer favor Sen. Obama?
If the government of the United States were organized like that of the United Kingdom - a parliamentary democracy led by a Prime Minister - there is no question in this observer's mind that Hillary Clinton would be the preferred candidate for Prime Minister. Sen. Clinton's skills and experience match closely the requirements for a pure head of government. It is actually not hard to imagine Sen. Clinton in a setting like Prime Minister's Question Time (shown in this country on C-SPAN). The Senator's wide knowledge and tough eloquence would be well-suited to that setting.
The American Presidency is different, however. Its place in our constitutional form of government and in our history demands a different set of skills from that required of a Prime Minister. To be an effective political leader, an American President needs to inspire, to persuade, and to lead public opinion. Beyond this, an American President exerts moral as well as political leadership - the "bully pulpit" as Theodore Roosevelt put it. And a President leads at times of great national sorrow. One remembers Ronald Reagan at the time of the Challenger disaster in 1986; one should try to imagine Sen. Clinton and Sen. Obama - and Sen. McCain, for that matter - in that role.
Certainly, the President of the United States needs more than airy inspiration to be an effective leader, but without leadership qualities, the President ends up as head clerk of the government. This observer is confident in Sen. Obama's grasp of and judgment on substantive policy issues, but he brings something even more important than this - the ability to persuade and to lead.